eFinancialCareers

Want to get a foot in the hedge fund door? A hedge fund manager is running a competition to spend a weekend in his presence.

Richard Hains, who runs the London office of US hedge fund Portland Place, is encouraging people to compete for the privilege of spending two evenings out on the town with him.

Sounds like a good idea? It might well be if you want to get an inside perspective on what hedge fund lifestyles (although not the actual work) are all about. The only hurdle is that you'll need to have an address in the US – the competition is Hains' way of publicising his novel, Chameleon, currently only available on the other side of the Atlantic.

If you fit the bill, you'll need to visit the book's website and say why you deserve to win. You can also watch a video of Hains cruising around Mayfair and Notting Hill in a vintage Aston Martin, celebrating the fact that the key change in Mayfair over the past two decades is the influx of cheap prostitutes from Eastern Europe.

"It's a bit of fun," Hains tells us. "London's such a marvellous City – the competition was my publisher's idea as a way of publicising the book in the US."

We didn't ask Hains whether Portland Place also happens to be hiring at the moment. Competitions could yet prove a way of luring staff, given that headhunters say no one wants to join hedge funds these days. "Hedge funds are really struggling to attract staff," says one. "It used to be the case that people would take a risk to go there – not any more."